I run a book club. From time to time, I find it almost impossible to find good study guides/discussion questions for the books we are reading. So I thought I would share the study guides that I created myself and offer them for your use with your own book club. I do not mind if you use these, but would greatly appreciate feedback if you found them useful.
Discussion Questions for A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6) by: Diana Gabaldon
1.Jamie tells Claire that he dreamt of electric lights. Do you think we can dream of something we have never seen or has never been invented yet? Have you ever experienced this?
2.How does telling Claire of Mary McNabb help Claire believe him about Malva?
3.When Jamie and Claire are in their house and they are surrounded, at one point Claire remarks that the men outside “aim to kill us.” Jamie’s response at once reassures Claire. Do you remember what her response was? Why would this reassure her?
4.Ulysses tell Jamie that all he has to prove that he didn’t take the gold was “his word of honor and I am not entitled to it.” Was Ulysses and honorable man?
5.Once they go back, Brianna and Roger find a box in the reverend’s house. What is the significance of this box? The name? Brianna at one point makes a comment about prayer for her mother and father, even though they were technically “dead”. Have you ever considered the notion of praying for your ancestors?
6.Jamie claims to have nearly died five times. Can you name them?
7.What did you think of the Boston Massacre as told from Sir John’s POV?
8.When confronted with one of the men that harmed her, Claire hesitates before killing the man. Jamie steps forward and states that his wife has an oath sworn upon her. “It is I who kills for her.” Take this idea under consideration for Stephen Bonnet. What did you think about how Brianna handled his “justice”? What did you think of Jamie’s notion of committing murder for another in order for that person to bear no moral burden of such a dreadful task?
9.Who did Bobby Higgins (the dark figure) when under the sedation?
10.Jamie admits to Claire that he did not care enough to beat Leghair. Why not?
11.Discuss: Malva, Lizzie and the Beardsley Twins, The Buggs, Fergus and Marsali, Brianna, Roger, Jemmie, and Mandy.
12.Prologue: Time is like God…can heal everything. Memory is the devil.
I know this post is years old, but I wanted to thank you and this seems like the right place, so I hope that’s OK.
I have been leading an in-person Outlander Book Club for a few years, and like you, I found it hard to find good questions for the books. We also read them over 2 (or in Moby’s case, 3) months, so I needed questions that wouldn’t be spoiler-y. So, I used or modified some of your questions for the first 6 books (not having found any for Echo or Moby) and then wrote more of my own. I mentioned chapterbreak.net to my group when I used them.
Now, I have shared my questions with the online Outlander Book Club: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/outlanderbookclub/ and I thanked you in my post in the “About this forum” announcement thread. But, I wanted to come here and thank you and let you know about this resource in case you might ever want to use any for discussions of the most recent 2 books. I also have questions for DG’s other works that I hope to add to the forum soon, but I have some editing to do before then.
Anyway, thanks a lot for sharing your questions. I have appreciated them!
How nice of you to share your questions. My book club is currently on a break. If we get reading again and read this book it will be nice to have your questions (and I will give you feedback, of course). 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Interesting points – even to smn who, like me, hasn’t read the Outlander series. I this this is something I need to change asap. Great post!
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